In a different world, Andrei would've accepted Leon's words. Nothing. Not a big deal. He would've stopped then and there, not bothering to look. But Andrei wasn't different. He lived in a world where trust was a very rare thing, and where things you could see, touch, smell, hear or sense were much realer than things you felt.
And so, Andrei went looking.
Not realizing, not quickly enough, that the connection worked both ways, and that he also opened himself up to Leon's scrutiny. Inside, deeply buried, there was a tangle of feelings, all of which sparked alive by Leon, running the gamut of love, lust, jealousy and feelings of fatherhood. Hidden, deeply hidden by distrust, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.